but not before leaving a path of destruction in her wake. so far the storm is blamed for 21 deaths, 11 of them in cuba. san sandy has the potential to make a major impact starting this sunday. welcome in this friday, october 26th, 2012. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. we want to get the latest on hurricane sandy. tom kierein is tracking the latest. the very latest track on sandy taking it to the north and coming close to us. right now it is north of the bahamas, bringing rain in parts of florida and passing east. winds of 80 miles an hour. pressure holding steady now north/northwest at 15 miles an hour. maintain category 1 strength today off the coast of florida and heading northeast for tomorrow. then sunday, taking a turn to the north and then into monday northwest. tuesday, wednesday coming inland, and then just kind of sitting here right near us. here's washington, here's baltimore. there's philadelphia. so this entire part of the

country from central virginia all the way to new england being affected by this storm. monday into tuesday and wednesday. here's some of the effects from this. sandy gets stronger as it does come our way. and rain starting sunday, becoming heavy late in the day. winds increasing sunday night. they'll be strongest monday, tuesday. maybe 60-mile-per-hour gusts or higher. that likely will cause power outages that may last several days. with ways to deal with all of that, we're joining tony tull in forestville. good morning, tony. >> tom, good morning. it's been the theme for the last 24 hours or so. it's all about the preparation. folks going to lowe's, home dep depot, the grocery stores, getting the supplies they need, if hurricane sandy does make land fall, that they are well prepared. pepco is well-prepared. they have about 400 contractors on stand by. and they've also put out a request for mutual aid. what that basically is saying is all the power companies to the south and to the west of our region, if hurricane sandy

should hit, they will send additional crews to our area to help with some repairs. as of yesterday, pepco just started sending out crews early to start inspecting transformers. they were inspecting power poles as well as some of the big connections just to do everything they can to make sure they are as well-prepared as possible and to minimize the damage should this hurricane come through. about 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, pepco is expected to have a press conference to update everybody on some of the more advanced plans they have. make sure you stay tuned to news 4 for that information. we are live in forestville, tony tull, news 4. >> tony, thank you. metro is also gearing up for heavy rains anded flooing. they' they'll put sandbags around the system where flooding is expected. news 4's melissa mollet is at the live desk with breaking

news. >> actually, i'll take it first 4 traffic report. a minor delay on the rails. fredericksburg line train number 300, just a five-minute delay. over to the roadways, it's friday. not too bad. you're starting to slow down on some of the roadways, but not along 295. making your way to the beltway in both directions between the 11th street bridge and the beltway, travel lanes are open. over to 395, if this is your commute, head over to the house, prepare for joy northbound at seminary road, 54 miles an hour. nice and clear. really in both directions. as you make your way past pentagon and heading over to the 14th street bridge, it is a clear commute into the city. >> danella, thank you. let's check in with melissa mollet at the live desk. fighting in syria rages on at this hour even though a u.n.-backed cease fire was spoe supposed to go into effect at dawn. the eid holiday is not being

regulated. more than 30,000 people have been killed in syria. kevin bowden died last thursday after an suv collided with his cruiser in clinton. he was off duty at the time. the first viewing tonight at 6:00 in lees funeral home in clinton. he'll have another viewing tomorrow in temple hills before his fun l ra. this morning a suspect involved in a chase that killed a police officer in prince george's county is charged with vehicular manslaughter. prosecutors indicted ke eed kev along with fleeing police. officer adrian morris died in august. he was chasing men he thought may have stolen a car. the virginia man accused of shooting a security guard at the family research council will be in court. 23-year-old floyd lee corkins was charge the with terrorism for the august attack. it's the first time anyone's been charged with committing an act of terror under d.c.'s anti-terrorism act. the charge carries up to 30 years in prison.

corkins has already pled not guilty to the first set of charges he faced. mitt romney will continue his tour of battle ground states. he flies from ohio to ames, iowa, where his campaign will deliver what it calls a closing argument. the presidential candidate will return to ohio later today. president obama will campaign in ohio on monday. he's staying here in the district today. he returned late last night from a marathon 40-hour campaign trip, which included stops in eight states. one of those states was illinois, where he voted yesterday afternoon. today the president heads to georgetown university. he will tape an mtv special in which he will answer young voters' questions. as both campaigns target swing states, one new poll seems to show mitt romney gaining

momentum nationwide. romney has a 50%-47% lead over the president. it's the first time in the campaign the former governor has reached the 50% mark, and the economy may be to thank. when asked who they trust most to handle the economy, likely voters give romney a 52-43% advantage over the president. it's the first time any candidate has had a clear lead on that issue. this is shaping up to be the most expensive campaign in u.s. history. they have raised more than 2 billion so far. the rest involve super pacs and nonprofit groups. just to give you a sense of how much money is being raised, it breaks down to $5 per voter. a virginia congressman speaking out about video of his son that forced him to resign from his campaign. earlier this week, the group project veritas posted this hidden camera video of congressman jim moran's son patrick, discussing how someone could vote illegally in virginia. the release of that tape

prompted him to resign from his father's campaign, and arlington police say they are now investigating possible voter fraud. in a statement, the congressman said in part i don't condone the actions of the right wing organization in question, but i recognize this incident is teaching patrick a tough lesson. he goes on to say the conversation drifted into discussions that reflected a serious error in judgment that patrick wishes he could take back. 6:07 is your time. 63 degrees. we continue to track developments out of afghanistan a after a dead lly incident there. he currently calls the district home, but why some in d.c. say president obama is ignoring them. teacher: this is west virginia, pennsylvania, delaware. and this is maryland. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million gaming at casinos in these other states. question seven will build a new casino and bring

table games to baltimore... generating hundreds of millions for schools. and that money has to go to education. it's the law. so vote for question seven. so we can stop spending all that money here, and keep maryland money in classrooms like mine. we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives.

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we are keeping a close eye on hurricane sandy, even from space. take a look at this satellite image from the international space station. this picture of the massive storm was taken at noon yesterday. at that time, sandy as 120 miles in diameter. >> we talk about this having an impact, makes landfall in the u.s. from north carolina up to boston, a huge area. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein has been on top of this all morning long. >> right now sandy is a category 1 hurricane. it's a minimal hurricane. it does have winds up to 80 miles an hour tracking closer to us. right now around the region, we're in the low 60s with low clouds, little patchy fog. might have a little drizzle to deal with by 7:00 a.m. by the noon hour, upper 60s. by midafternoon, ought to be near 70 degrees. cloudy throughout most of the day today, kind of cool. our sunrise 7:29. sunset at 6:14. sandy's latest track and impacts coming up at 6:21.

a look at traffic now with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. traveling the dulles toll road, nice and clear, no incidents to report. let's check travel speeds. as you're driving, make your way eastbound from hunter mill road to the beltway, 60 miles per hour, six-minute drive. connecting from the dulles toll road to the interchange, travel lanes are open. you're at 61 miles per hour on the outer loop. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> danella, thank you. more nervous men in one quiet maine community. a sex scandal involving a zumba instructor. and a homeowner's idea to help catch a neighborhood mail thief red handed. anncr: which do you believe?

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

today the names of more alleged clients of a zumba

instructor accused of running a prostitution ring. police say she used her zumba dance studio as a front for her prostitution business. two weeks ago a list of 21 alleged johns was released, including a former mayor and a high school hockey coach. wright has pleaded not guilty. it is a disturbing trend in one d.c. neighborhood. someone is swiping packages, even gift cards from front stoops and mailboxes. check out this hidden camera video you saw first on news 4 at 11:00. you can see the mail person drop off the package. a short time later, a man arrives, opens the box, and steals what's inside, leaving the package behind. some say the area is an easy target. >> we're adjacent to rock creek park. it's easy access, a quick grab and a quick take and a quick run. >> police are stepping up patrols in that area.

neighbors say they may start going to the store instead of ordering it in the mail. the cdc is expanding its investigation of the deadly meningitis outbreak in 18 states now. members of the health, labor, and pensions committee want answers when it comes to those contaminated steroid injections that infected hundreds with meningitis. the committee wants documents and wants to know why they haven't been briefed. 24 people have died from that outbreak. visitors from the big apple can once again see it all the way from the top of the statue of liberty. the observation deck from the top of the lady's crown has been closed for a year while they did renovations. they made improvements for safety and accommodations for handicapped visitors. if you do want to see it, it's only open thursdays through sundays, and you need to make reservations. we are can traitracking san. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein with the details.

>> sandy has moved over the ba many ha bahamas, and it continues to track north. sandy is packing 80-mile-per-hour winds. this is the extent of the radar image up to about 100 miles off the florida kwoecoast before th curvature of the earth. it is getting bands passing into southern florida and down through cuba. all this area in the bright white, that is heavy rain, and it has got winds of about 80 miles an hour. these are the latest statistics. it's moving toward the northwest now at about 10 to 15 miles an hour, and the pressure has pretty much stayed steady overnight since you went to bed. this track came out a little over an hour ago and showing a northwesterly trend in the hours. then taking a northeasterly track into much of saturday. then by sunday around midnight, it's going to begin to take a turn to the north and then sunday afternoon taking a bit of a turn to the northwest.

then by monday, a sharper turn north and west. then coming inland, here's the close-up view. it does look like it will still be a category 1 hurricane when it's right around the mouth of the delaware bay. the red line is the likely track. it could track anywhere within this zone. look at washington. we're right in the middle of this potential impact zone, and it does look like, once it goes inland, it's going to slow down and just stay in one place. look at this. here's the wednesday 2:00 a.m. position, hardly moving at all for monday, and remaining in the same position and spinning away. here's the timing. this red zone, this is the high impact zone. that's looking like sunday morning into southern maryland. then sunday afternoon and evening, getting into washington with some strong winds, heavy rains, and unfortunately with those strong winds, we could have widespread power outages, and that may continue all the way into the rest of next week with those power outages. storm team 4 four-day forecast,

cloudy today, highs near 70. cloudy tomorrow in the upper 60s. yes, the impacts here in our region beginning mainly sunday afternoon and evening. we could have showers sunday morning. the strong winds and the heavy rain bands, sunday evening into monday and tuesday next week. yes, we could have an extended period with power outages all the way into the rest of the end of the week. we now go live with my colleague from the weather channel, mike sigh dell. mike, i can see some heavy surf there behind you. >> reporter: we've got that down here. we're in the singer island area near palm beach. tide is coming in in the next half hour. no big concern. we have seen some beach erosion and wind erosion on the beach, blowing the sand from north to south. right now winds are from the north. they'll turn northwest as the system goes by later on this morning. that's going to cut down on any kind of coastal flooding because that will blow the water back out offshore. a brush by here in florida as expected. some locally heavy rainfalls

coming through. those falls could gust winds to 50 miles an hour. no big preparations here. we don't see anyone boarding up. they have furniture, anything that could get blown around. once it moves on through, if you're heading down to florida this weekend or next week, some beautiful weather because the storm is going to pull down cool air tom. we'll have temperatures here down in the mid to upper 50s as we get into monday and tuesday. looking at that overnight, takes it right into ocean city, maryland. it's a pretty scary scenario for all the beaches and right up the coast. where i'm from, you guys are up there. remember being back there covering the power outages in june, let's hope it not that bad, but it has the impact to knock out even more power. >> let's have a check of traffic. danella, how are we doing? not too bad on the roads. if you're traveling the rail, minor delay, vre, fredericksburg train 300 and 304, a five-minute

delay. roads starting to see some accidents pop up. i-95 southbound in maryland at west nursery road -- excuse me, 295 southbound at west nursery road, crash can bloiblocking twr left lanes. approaching it, you're at 33 miles an hour. the cuts have not gone through yet, but the government's fiscal cliff is already costing jobs. ike leggett: gaming generated one hundred and eighty...

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check this out. heavy hitters in hong kong traded business suits for boxing trunks all in the name of charity. a seat at this event went for $650. the money raised will go to children's charities. last year the fiscal fights raised about $65,000. a hidden camera to solve a mystery. they wanted to know who or what

was rearranging their porch furniture. it all started last week. they noticed the patio furniture outside their albuquerque home kept getting moved around. sure enough, they caught a mysterious woman redecorating their porch. they don't know who she is or why she didn't like their furniture arrangement. it has given them a laugh. very creepy. very strange. why is she doing that? >> the neighborhood has a feng shui too. >> maybe just a frustrated interior designer. >> 6:27 is our time now. the string of crimes that has police warning drivers in one maryland community.

it has not come ashore just yet, but utility crews around the d.c. region already working

hard to prepare for hurricane sandy. good morning, everyone. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. right now can ttracking hurrica sandy. currently a category 1 storm. so far the storm is blamed for at least 21 deaths, 11 of them are in cuba. sandy has a chance to make a major impact from virginia to new england starting sunday. tom kierein with the impact on us. right now the latest satellite image is showing that sandy is kind of a disorganized storm at this point. you see that huge blob of white on the screen. that is some heavy, heavy rain. the farthest the rains can reach. it has winds of 80 miles per hour. it has a category 1 hurricane. looks like it's going to maintain that strength. this is the latest updated forecast track. maintaining category 1 throughout the day today and during the day tomorrow.

then taking a turn to the north on sunday. then sunday evening into monday, taking a northwesterly turn, it's going to slow down, maintaining its strength as a category 1 hurricane. here's what we know now. it does look like the storm might be passing through the metro area during the day on monday, monday night, and tuesday. as it gets inland into pennsylvania, just sitting here and spinning away for several days. it's going to take a while for this thing to wind down. hour by hour throughout the day, hoe clouds, maybe a little drizzle and fog in the low 60s. by midafternoon, up around 70 degrees and still a lot of cloudiness around. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. first 4 traffic this friday morning with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. and good morning to you. if you're traveling bw parkway in maryland, southbound at west nursery road, still have a crash there blocking two of your left lanes. delays are growing, and you're slow at just 9 miles per hour at

i-695. slow trip to make your way southbound. let's head over to the beltway in montgomery county. traveling the inner loop, nice and clear between i-270 and i-95. outer loop, starting to see some volume, especially around i-95 as you make your way around new hampshire avenue. to get to i-270, you're at 44 miles per hour. you're looking at a 13-minute drive. let's head over to i-66, seeing volume in fairfax county park y parkway. just a bit slow to 50. aaron, over to you. police in leesburg, virginia, investigating a suspicious death. officers found a woman inside an apartment on edwards ferry road northeast just before 1:00 this morning after the woman's family couldn't get in touch with her for a few days. we're told the victim was in her early 20s. police are not saying how she died. so far, no arrests have been made. imagine hearing your car alarm blaring outside your home, and when you go to see what's wrong, you find your car is on fire. prince george's county police say nine cars have been burned or broken into in less than 24

hours. these incidents all happened wednesday and early thursday in the kettering, largo, bowie, and upper marlboro areas. investigators do believe the fires are linked. people we spoke to say it woke them up in the middle of the night. >> they attempted to go in, and once my alarm went off, they scattered. >> my car was ungulfed in flames. >> police aren't sure whether someone did it to cover up a crime. police are warning people to leave an extra light on at night and report any unusual behavior. attorneys say their client is a good man despite the fact he had a sexual relationship with a young swimmer decades ago. rick curl turned himself in to montgomery county police. a former swimmer says curl abused her for years in the '80s starting when she was 13. a series of huge spending cuts and tax hikes known as the

fiscal cliff are two months off, but the threat is having a huge impact on the economy. a report by the national association of manufacturers says nearly 1 million jobs have already been lost this year. the association says that number could jump to 6 million if congress does not stop the cuts. the report says companies across the country are laying off workers and putting off major purchases until congress acts. today people in favor of expanding gambling in maryland will hold a rally aat the proposed casino site in national harbour. opponents to the plan held a rally in forest heights. supporters say the campaign against question 7 is misleading. supporters of another controversial measure on maryland's ballot are also rallying in these final days before the election. more than 100 proponents of the maryland d.r.e.a.m. act gathered on college campuses throughout the state yesterday. the law would allow all maryland residents to pay instate tuition

regardless of their immigration status. if the d.r.e.a.m. act passes, lower tuition could kick in as soon as next semester. 6:35 is your time. 63 degrees. spending a pretty penny to get you to vote for them. we'll show you just how much your vote is worth. anncr: it's said that character is what we do...

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tracking hurricane sandy this morning. the category 1 hurricane is being blamed for at least 21 deaths, 11 of them in cuba. sandy hit the island with sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. she left a trail of destruction, especially in the country's second largest city. santiago de cuba. trees were knocked down, buildings destroyed, massive flooding to contend with. president raul castro expected to assess the damage in person today. >> we want to know what sandy is doing as it hits our region. meteorologist tom kierein is here. it did decrease in strength, but it's still a category 1 storm. right now around our region, we've got low clouds persistently hanging in. they're going to be with us throughout much of the day today. it's going to stay cloudy, and we're going to have patchy fog and drizzle for two or three hours. right now areas in light green in the low 60s.

dark green has dipped into the 60s in parts of southern maryland. clear sky down into the mid-40s. here's the storm team 4 hour by hour forecast for today by 8:00 a.m. still cloudy and maybe a little drizzle and fog. upper 60s by noontime. as we get into the midafternoon hours, may briefly get to around 70 degrees. a lot of cloudiness around. the very latest track for sandy and sandy's potential impacts on our region. that's coming up in ten minutes, along with your seven-day outlook. a look the at traffic. here's danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. first let's start with the rails. on marc, six-minute delay. brunswick east 892. over to the vre, train number 304 of the fredericksburg line, a five-minute delay. over to the road, 295 southbound at west nursery road, still seeing big delays because the crash is blocking two of your left lanes in that area. as you pass 695, aaron, really slow at 13 miles per hour. over to you.

>> thank you, danella. melissa mollet at the live desk with breaking news. >> breaking news out of afghanistan. several hospitals in the northern part of the country overwhelmed after the suicide bombing we've been telling you about this morning. an update, we now at least 45 people have died, including 5 children. dozens are critically hurt after an attack on the mosque on the first day of the muslim holiday eid. we now know a commander and two local police chiefs were also killed in this bombing. just amazing video coming out of afghanistan this morning. at live desk, melissa mollet news 4. >> you may see one of these when you head out the door. those are snow plows. the goos news is they're not anticipating any snow. megan mcgrath joins us with a live look at what crews are up to. megan, what are they doing up there? >> reporter: they're making sure they're ready for the snow season. a lot of people scratching their

heads saying why is there a snow plow in my neighborhood when all of those are talking about hurricanes. this is the dry run. you might see one of these know plows in our neighborhood going over the hydraulic equipment, the spreaders and the like, making sure everything works for when the snow season begins. we've got another spreader back here. they got up early. take a look at the video out and about early. they're out of the nands, looking for any trouble spots. things like man holes that are raised which would hook on the plow when they're out there in the snow. low hanging branches that might whack into the trucks as they go up neighborhood streets. they're looking for the problems. when they find them, they call them in tok taken care of. for the first snowstorm there aren't any hitches, everything will be ready and go smooth a as smoothly as possible. we've been talking to drivers this morning, asking them what they're doing and how this helps. they say that it's actually very helpful. they haven't been on their routes in a while.

they haven't been behind the wheel of these trucks for a while. they say it's a great idea to do the dry run, kind of gets them into practice. >> it's very helpful because it allows the person to get familiar with the area they haven't seen for a while and allow them to look for manhole covers, steel plates, anything we need to take care of. >> reporter: and they're going to look for trouble spots. any clogged drain, et cetera, they'll report that as well. now to decision 2012. mitt romney will stay in the heartland today. he'll fly from ohio to iowa. he'll deliver a speech in ames. his campaign calling that speech a closing argument. it will focus heavily on the republican nominee's economic plan. he'll return to ohio later in the day. he's set to appear with his

running mate in north canton. romney spent all day yesterday in the buckeye state. he made three campaign stops, including this one in defiance near toledo. 6:45. president obama is back in the district. he rushed from a marathon trip, which included stops in eight states. one of those states was illinois, where he voted yesterday afternoon. today the president heads to georgetown university and tape an nbc special in which he'll answer young voters' questions. as both campaigns look to make a strong push to election day, at least one new poll seems to give mitt romney the momentum heading into the final days. it's the first time during the campaign the former governor has reached the 50% mark, and the economy might be to thank for that. when asked when they trusted most to handle the economy, likely voters gave romney a 52-43% advantage over the

president. it's the first time either candidate has had a clear lead on that issue. another poll shows that some of the most important swing states are still practically in a dead heat here. in colorado, the president and romney are now tied at 48%. that's according to a new nbc news/wall street journal/marist poll, and that means gains for romney, who trailed there by 5% last month. while in nevada, president obama is holding a steady lead, 50% to 47% now, thanks in part to support from latino voters. this is shaping up to be the most expensive election in u.s. history. the campaigns have raised more than $2 billion so far. the candidates' campaigns have brought in $1.7 billion of that money. the rest involved super pacs and nonprofit groups. it breaks down to $5 per voter. a virginia congressman speaking out about the video that forces his son to resign from his campaign.

the group project veritas posted this hidden camera video of his son patrick talking about how someone could vote illegally in virginia. the release of that tape forced him to resign from his father's campaign, and arlington police are now investigating possible voter fraud. in a statement, jim moran said in part, "i don't condone the actions of the right wing organization in question, but i recognize that this incident is teaching patrick a tough lesson. the conversation drifted into discussions that reflected a serious error in judgment that patrick wishes he could take back." today family and friends will say good-bye to a prince george's county police officer killed in a car crash. kevin bowden died last thursday after an suv collided with his cruiser in clinton. he was off duty at the time. the first viewing was tonight at 6:00 in lee's funeral home in clinton. he'll have another viewing tomorrow morning in temple hills before his funeral. this morning a suspect involved

in a chase is facing new charges. kevin neal is charged with manslaughter and eluding police. police officer adrian morris crashes his car as he was chasing men on i-95 he thought may have stolen a car. >> cnbc's bertha coombs joins us with more on the new software. we thought it was all apple, but microsoft has a big rollout, its new operating system, windows 8, as you mentioned. the one of the biggest product launches in years. microsoft is opening 32 temporary pop-up stores just for the holidays to promote and sell windows 8, which features faster boot-up times and connection to wi-fi service. windows 8 is designed to run a variety of devices, pcs, laptops, smartphones, and the new surface tablet which hits stores today as well. more than 1 billion pcs worldwide currently run windows, but analysts say 90% of consumers and businesses may wait at least a year before

making the switch to windows 8. meantime, apple stock could lose some of its shine again today. the company reported quarterly earnings last night that missed wall street's forecast. apple sold nearly 27 million iphones, but ipad sales fell well short of expectations. the company's holiday forecast is also well below analysts' estimates. that may be partly due to the fact that apple is now producing several devices, including that new ipad mini that just debuted this week and the ipad 4, and manufacturing costs are outpacing what it's taking off of them. a lot of these new devices are so thin and have a lot of new manufacturing processes. it's a lot more expensive. >> a lot of apple ins that basket. bertha coombs, thank you. we're keeping a close eye on hurricane sandy. the storm is moving out of the bahamas. so far the storm is blamed for at least 21 deaths, more than half of them in cuba.

utility companies up and down the eastern sea board already working to prevent long power outages. news 4's tony tull live with more on what power crews are doing to try to get ready. >> reporter: aaron, good morning. we've been saying it the last 24 hours. it's all about the preparation. pepco has already put 400 contractors on stand by for the preparation that sandy should make landfall. they also have put out a request for mutual aid, asking that other power companies in the southern and western regions to send crews should sandy make landfall. one of the big things pepco is doing is checking out transfo transforme transformers, checking out power poles, make sure they do everything they can to be prepared. one of the new things we learned this morning, aaron and eun, is pepco is actually replacing some wire. for example, you folks in montgomery county who are used to dealing with widespread power out ge age outages, they are going to be out pulling new wire and power cable making sure to put in new,

more reliable cable so it will be less of an issue. we'll continue to follow pepco's preparations. they have a news conference coming in. make sure you stay tuned to news 4 later today for that. to for now, we're live. tony tull, news 4. crews will put sand bags around the system where high water is possible. they're also checking draining pumping stations. additional support personnel are scheduled to work throughout the storm as well. it is 6:51 now. we want to get a look at the forecast going into the weekend. meteorologist tom kierein is here. >> good morning. it is important we take this storm very seriously because there is now an increasing chance it is going to be coming very close to us. right now it's kind of a disorganized hurricane north of the bahamas. as time goes by, it's going to be intersecting with this front which is now in the midwest. this front is going to get closer to us as we get into sunday as well as sandy getting closer to us as we get into

sunday. both of those systems causing sandy to maintain its hurricane strength. right now 80-mile-per-hour winds. category 1 hurricane staying that strength throughout the day today. here's the latest track. on saturday may briefly take a turn toward the northeast. then unfortunately, as we get into sunday, monday, tuesday, it does take a turn toward our atlantic seaboard. actually, the very latest track showing it may come inland somewhere near the eastern shore of delaware and then come across the northern part of the bay and head up into southern pennsylvania. it looks like it's slowing down as well. even when it's way down here at hatteras, we'll begin to feel the effects. this will be sunday afternoon. by tuesday morning and into tuesday evening, that's when the full impacts are going to be felt here and really going down monday as well. some of the highest impacts in the red zone beginning to be felt along the atlantic seaboard, southern bay, southeastern virginia with wind and rain. sunday evening into monday and

all the way into tuesday is when the heaviest impacts will be around our region with strong winds. could have gusts over 60 miles an hour. that unfortunately will likely cause power out aages with all our trees in this region. a lot of those trees may come down and have expended power outage problems for much of the rest of next week. prepare for several days without power. we have temperatures in the low 60s. we have patchy drizzle and patchy fog around now. storm team 4 four day forecast around this friday, we'll have a lot of cloudiness around much of the region with highs near 70. cloudy tonight and saturday too. upper 60s tomorrow. then on sunday especially afternoon and evening and into monday, monday night, and tuesday is when we have the possibility of strong winds causing power outages, bands of heavy rain from time to time, especially monday into tuesday, and gradually improving midweek next week and turning much cooler too.

tuesday, wednesday, thursday, highs only into the 40s and 50s as well as monday. i'm back with frequent updates throughout the "today" show and through "news 4 midday." stay tuned. danella, how's traffic? checking the roads at west nursery road, the crash was blocking the left side of the roadway. it's clear. still seeing delays about 28 miles southbound replacing i-95. connecticut avenue at belpre southbound connecticut avenue, you'll be forced onto belpre road. two vehicles in an accident there. again, southbound you're blocked. eun, over to you. >> danella, thanks so much. it's been a good season for virginia's apple crop, but if you haven't gone apple picking yet, you may be too late. the apple harvest has all but come to an end. warm temperatures in february and march led to not aean early boom and harvest. the marine corps marathon is one of the most popular runs in

the country, and it is also one of the best for beginners. tonight the rookie runners will be honored. the marathon holding a first timers pep rally at the hyatt regency northwest. about 1,000 first time marathoners who bought tickets will talk to running experts, listen to live entertainment, and win some giveaways. more than 11,000 of the runners on sunday will be first timers. it's one of the highlights of the halloween season here in washington, boo at the zoo kicks off tonight. this is the 14th year for the halloween festivities at the national zoo. allows kids a safe atmosphere to trick or treat and see an l ima at the same time. it runs 5:30 to 8:30. tickets available online or at the zoo. we posted a link on news 4 facebook page. cute costumes. don't feed the animals. seven day outlook. today cloudy with highs near 70. cloudy saturday, upper 60s. then sandy's impacts being felt

here, especially sunday afternoon and evening and all the way into tuesday with strong wind and rain. back to you. >> thank you, tom. that is "news 4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes with weather, traffic, and any breaking news. anncr: it's said that character is what we do...

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